Holiday rentals in Umbria, Italy

biological food

One of the best places to find fresh fruit in Italy is the local market. There are many street markets in Umbria. Vendors set up shop to sell super fresh fruit, vegetables, cheese, fish and cold cuts. Every week in every town or village there’s a local market. The products one finds at the market are various. Not only food, but also clothing and footwear.

Most open air markets start around 7:30 am and finish at 1:00 pm. It is recommended to go early to the market, especially in high season when market places are crowded with tourists.

At the lively market residents purchase fresh food of the region. Eating seasonally and locally is a way of life in Italy.

In Umbria at every corner of the market one can buy pecorino cheese, salami or dried ham. Pecorino is sheep cheese which can be eaten fresh or aged (stagionato). Pecorino cheese is popular in Umbria, Lazio and Tuscany.

On the market square one often finds a bar or a pizza takeway for a coffee and a quick chat with friends and neighbours. This is so tipically Italian!

Porchetta is roasted pork meat and an Italian street food best found in Umbria, South Tuscany and Lazio. The porchetta trucks are mostly parked in the piazza’s during the weekly markets. The owners of the truck prepare and sell porchetta sandwiches to customers.

For an overview of markets in Umbria you can check out our website. Many markets in Umbria are really awesome. Do you have a favorite market place in Umbria? Let us know!

Like this:

Friends of mine have a farm in the countryside near Cortona in Tuscany, close to Umbria. I’ve seen agriturismo’s in Italy, but never a farm where people keep Chianina cows, rabbits and chickens! This farm does not have apartments for rent, they live from the produce of their land.

The rabbits and chickens live free in the countryside. The Chianina cows stay inside with enough space to move around, though. I’m glad they seemed to have a peaceful life, knowing that their end will be at the butcher… The beef from these cows is very tasty.

Besides keeping animals they make olive oil, wine, prosciutto and of course their own tomato sauce for the pasta! They use the tomatoes from the vegetable garden. Almost everything you eat here is “KM 0”. Food without any chemicals and literally at 0 kilometers.

I enjoyed the farm experience; back to nature with genuine and friendly people. It is not possible to visit this farm, but the pictures give you an idea of the life that many people still live in Italy.

Cortona is an antique little town with ancient Etruscan walls. It elegantly sits on its hill top overlooking the Valdichiana valley with the Trasimeno Lake in the background. It surely is worth a visit: quaint old streets and alleyways, shops, gelateria’s and good restaurants.